Those wondrous and sometimes frightening tides. Why do they act so? It’s time to take a little mystery away from them, but love them all the same.

What’s the book, and where can you get it?

Tides: The Science and Spirit of the Ocean by Jonathan White will be released from Trinity University Press on February 21, 2017. It’s to be available at bookstores everywhere, if there are still actual physical bookstores in your area, that is! If not, visit the usual suspects online. I received an advance copy of this book at no charge, but I’m only writing this feature because this is a worthwhile book.

Who is the author?

Jonathan White is an active marine conservationist, a sailor, plus a surfer! His has also written Talking on the Water: Conversations about Nature and Creativity. This guy has really spent a lot of time studying tides, but he’s also a good writer, not a boring science guy. No offense to science guys on this planet. We need you more than ever. March on.

A little alert for literary nerds: The foreword is written by Peter Matthiessen, co-founder of The Paris Review.

Why read it?

Tides takes you to the Arctic, China, France, Chile, Scotland, Panama and Italy. On your journeys you’ll learn about tides, yes, but some parts of the book cover a very important topic, one that’s being ignored by many right now – climate change, specifically how the threat of sea level rise is changing the culture in Venice and Panama. Yet, in Chile and Scotland, you’ll learn about a rising alternative energy source: tidal power! It’s not all wind and solar these days.

Go on, flip the switch on your tidal knowledge. You won’t get lost. There are maps and everything.